


Turn the Lights Down

by softjack



Series: Collection of Drabbles I Don't Have A Name For Yet [1]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Awkward Flirting, First Kiss, First Meetings, Flirting, M/M, alternative universe, but there's no smut, the mature rating is mostly because there's kissing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-02
Updated: 2017-04-02
Packaged: 2018-10-14 01:13:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10525794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/softjack/pseuds/softjack
Summary: Dex's date is an asshole, but at least he finds Nursey. Or more like Nursey finds him.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a drabble, really, but I love writing shorter things to get more ideas out there. If you want to send me a prompt and pairing on [my tumblr, gentlejackz](https://gentlejackz.tumblr.com/), go right ahead. I like Bitty/Jack and Nursey/Dex a lot, but I'd be more than happy to write other pairings, including rare ones! Also, if you find any typos or anything in the text, please let me know.

”Eric, I swear to god, this is the worst date I’ve been on since that geography guy Ben set me up with,” Dex hisses the second Eric picks up, trying to be quiet while also being ten times as angry as he is afraid of getting caught. “Might be worse.”

“ _Are you in the bathroom_?” Eric asks like he’s either sceptical or judging him and, well, _rude_. He’s supposed to worry about Dex’s wellbeing here. He’s supposed to call him _sweetheart_ and feel sorry for him.

“No, I’m, well, I’m in a closet and- don’t you dare make that joke, I know what you’re thinking. They keep like cleaning supplies and stuff- you know what, not important. Just please can you pick me up? He’s my only ride back and I really don’t wanna spend money on an uber.”

Dex opens the door slightly to see if there’s anyone close by that can hear him, but the hallway is empty. The bathroom is right around the corner so he can still hear people coming and going, but he should be fine here for a few more minutes before his date, Andy, notices he’s not actually in the bathroom. He’s also kind of hoping Andy realized that this isn’t going great either and left once Dex was out of sight, but it feels like a stretch considering the guy’s been trying to play footsies under the table ever since they sat down.

“ _Sorry, I’m at work for another hour or so. You could give him some emergency excuse and come wait ‘til my shift’s over?_ ” Eric says and there’s something in the background that falls to the floor. It didn’t sound like it shattered or anything but it’s enough that he gets distracted and Dex figures he should let him go back to work.

“No, no, then I might as well walk back home.” Dex sighs and leans back against the wall. “Thanks anyway.”

“ _I’ll come over tonight and you can complain all you want, okay?_ ” Eric promises and sounds sincerely sorry for him. As he should. This date is awful. “ _Good luck, hon.”_

“Thanks, bye,” he says and hangs up, staring at his home screen for a minute before putting it back in his pocket and letting the closet go dark.

His mind is telling him _ten more seconds, thirty more, a minute, he won’t notice_ , but he knows he has to go back out there and sit through at least another hour, maybe more if he can’t get out of dessert. It’s not even that they don’t have anything in common, they do, that’s why Dex agreed to this in the first place. Andy even seemed sweet online when rambling on about his family and his dog and Dex _really_ likes dogs okay? But.

Well.

Andy’s kind of an asshole. Not just an ‘I have some fucked up views’ kind of asshole, but one that keeps making enough crude jokes and suggestions that Dex was becoming more and more uncomfortable by the minute and this closet might barely even have space for the cleaning supplies but he’d rather stay in here than-

The door opens and Dex makes a sound he can’t say he’s very proud of. In just a second or two he manages to think of several things that could happen and it goes from very likely to being almost irrelevant, but then he gets a better look at the person staring back at him and he looks equally confused. Which is oddly calming consider Dex shouldn’t even be in here. He thinks the guy might work here, but by the looks of it he doesn’t seem like someone who would be sent to collect cleaning supplies. Button-up. Dress shoes. Nice enough jeans. Strong smell of cologne. So hopefully Dex isn’t in trouble.

“What are you doing here?” the guy asks and looks back to see if there’s anyone following him. He looks awfully nervous for a second and in what seems like a hesitant decision he gets into the closet and closes the door. “ _Be quiet for a second, okay?_ ”

Dex can’t even see the guy anymore but he can feel their shoes pressing against each other because of the lack of space and the smell of cologne is a lot stronger now. It’s not exactly an ideal situation but again, he’d rather be in here than back at the table. Stranger or not.

“Now, what are you doing in here?”

“I could ask you the same thing,” Dex says back, defensive, and brings out his phone. He turns on the flashlight and angles it down so they’re not blinded by it but can still see each other.

“Look, dude, if you’re waiting for someone so you can make out or whatever you gotta go somewhere else-“

“ _No_ ,” Dex snaps and stands there with his mouth slightly open for a second before he clears his throat and hopes that it’s too dark in here to see that he’s blushing. “I’m… hiding.”

“Oh.” The guy smirks and leans back against the wall. He crosses his arms too and Dex thinks if the guy’d had enough space he’d look even more like an asshole. “Bad date too then. How long’ve you been in here?”

“About five minutes,” Dex says. “And I’m Dex.”

“Derek, but most people call me Nursey.” He puts his hand out and Dex shakes it even though he’s still not sure any of this is a good idea. He should really be getting back out there is the thing. Five minutes is understandable. Ten? Fifteen? Not so much.

“How’s your date?” he asks instead.

“I’m in here, aren’t I? Dude just wouldn’t shut up about his boss. Like, that’s fine if we’ve been dating for a while, you know? But I’d rather not know more about your boss than you after a first date,” Nursey explains and, yeah, that sounds like it’s not too much to ask for. Dex doesn’t think it qualifies as a date you hide in the closet for though. “How’s yours?”

“An asshole,” Dex says but he’s kind of smiling too. It’s funny in a way that he can only see himself laughing at with other people and so far Nursey seems like better company in a closet than most dates he’s been on the last couple of months.

“You’ll probably be in here for another ten before he goes looking for you in the bathroom then.”

Dex sighs and checks the time again. He could still sneak out and walk home, or maybe give some half-decent excuse for leaving before they’ve even gone through half the meal, and going to Eric is still an option even if it means walking in the opposite direction of campus. The problem is that everyone knows Dex isn’t the smoothest when it comes to lying or trying to be subtle.

“Chill, he’ll leave soon. Assholes are too impatient to stick around,” Nursey says, as if he knows what Dex is considering. “Trust me.”

“You do this often?” Dex asks.

“From time to time. Not all dates are bad enough that I go hide, but it happens. Clearly.” Nursey laughs and looks right at him. He seems like the mischievous type when he does it; all green eyes and a practised smile. Dex almost mistakes him for someone who likes the thought of bad dates. There’s no mistake in saying he’s gorgeous though. Soft features but a strong jaw, slight curls to his hair that fall across the forehead and a slight dimple on his left side when he smiles. If Dex were to tell you his type, Nursey fits the description.

“Ever think you might be an awful date?”

“Me? I’m a _delight_ ,” Nursey says with no sign of being offended. “We should find some way to pass time though.”

“Like what? Rock, paper, scissors?”

Nursey snorts with laughter and puts a hand over his mouth, clearly a little embarrassed. Dex tries to avoid thinking it’s cute, or even _precious_ , but finds that the room feels a lot smaller than it did a few seconds ago. Nursey pulls himself together though, faster than Dex ever will, and shrugs.

“We could make out?” he suggest and it’s Dex’s time to act surprised, but in more of an _I’m choking on my own saliva, what the fuck, dude_ kind of way. “Geez, man, it was just a suggestion. You’re hot, I’m hot. I thought it’d be fun.”

“What- no, I don’t even know you,” Dex says and laughs nervously. He’s not uncomfortable or anything, he knows it’s not very serious, but as said before; he’s not very smooth.

“I know you better than my date out there, that’s for sure. No joke though, like you’re hot… and funny so far. That dude’s missing out.”

Dex blushes and looks down. Here’s this guy who isn’t even his date, who he’s stuck with in some broom closet or whatever, and they both have dates they’re hiding from, but Dex is still considering it. Because Nursey is kind of sweet, even though Dex probably wouldn’t have gotten along that well with him either if they were stuck on a date together, and Dex really just wants one night where he doesn’t go home empty handed.

“Okay,” he says. “Let’s, uh, make out.”

“You don’t sound so sure,” Nursey says, but he also leans forward a bit and puts a hand on the wall next to Dex’s head. It shouldn’t feel this exciting, but Dex still looks down at Nursey’s lips for a second and then bites his own. Quickly, he manages to turn the flashlight on his phone off as well and pockets it.

“I haven’t exactly been saying ‘make out’ a lot lately,” he admits, not exactly shy but at least a bit flustered. “But I, uh, I want to.”

“Ah huh,” Nursey mumbles and leans in even further so that Dex has nowhere to put his hands but Nursey’s sides. It’s all very intimate for someone he doesn’t know but it’s a distantly familiar feeling too, like kissing a stranger at a club, and he pulls at the shirt so he can get his hands under it. Then there’s slight pressure on his lips so Dex closes his eyes and leans into it, unsure of how _much_ you’re supposed to make out with someone you just met.

But it’s nice.

Very nice actually.

And when Nursey moans into it, Dex almost loses it. Like, _I haven’t felt this good in months and I want to feel like this for hours so I can remember it properly_ loses it. Like, _please please please please please_ loses it.

“I-, shit,” Dex breathes out when Nursey goes to kiss his neck instead but is cut off by his phone vibrating. Nursey is close enough to feel it too and pulls back smirking, but keeps eye-contact as Dex takes a few deep breaths to calm himself before he answers. “Hello.”

“ _Dex, Adam’s on his way back to campus and he said he could pick you up? He’s just stopping by here to buy some stuff for the team,_ ” Eric says.

“Uh, I, well.” Dex tries to think straight but he’s got hands on his hips and the memory of lips on his neck for the first time in a long time. “I think I’m gonna stick around for a bit.”

“ _Oh, are you getting along better?”_

“Well,” Dex chuckles and pulls Nursey in closer. “I found something to pass the time.”

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave kudos and comments, they're very much appreciated! Also, like I said in the note at the beginning: request stuff on [my tumblr, gentlejackz](https://gentlejackz.tumblr.com/)! You can also find me on twitter @quinntinb <3


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